From Lima To Tumbes

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After a few adventures and interesting experiences it was time to leave Lima for the far north of Peru.

We took the bus as a plane with our extra baggage would have cost an arm and a leg.
The bus was one of those big double level road liners and quite comfortable really. Still, 19 hours is a long time to be sitting on a bus.

Peruvians for the most part are .. well .. short, and the seating arrangements are not neccessarily well adapted to people of my height, so I was thankful to have a seat at the very front of the upper level for the little extra leg room it allowed me. The excellent view was merely a much appreciated extra perk.

As we were leaving Lima, there was a definate downward progression in the quality of accommodation visibile from the road, until the outskirts degenerated into slums climbing pecariously up the sides of the uncompromisingly arid hills.

Unlike most Australian coasts I have visited, where greenery from the regular coastal rainfall predominates, what I saw of Peru´s coastline was grey and brown and as dry as a desert bone.
While much of the trip was overnight, during the daylight portions pretty much the only green I saw was in the periodic irrigated areas where a river made it to the sea. Some areas seemed so dry and blasted that not even cactus could grow.

Our bus had some tyre problems along the way, stopping a couple of times to fix flat tyres. The second time was just after a toll checkpoint, well lit and secure, so I got off to stretch my legs a little and had a bit of a romp in the desert sand off the side of the road.

Towards the end of the journey, it greened a little to be merely arid in places. The Tumbes region itself, while obviously not lush by most standards almost seems to be in comparison with the terrain witnessed enroute.

Finally and with great relief we actually reached Tumbes a couple of hours late, but Victoria´s family was waiting for us anyway.

That evening there was an informal family party to welcome Victoria home (and have a look at the Gringo of course).

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